https://pixabay.com/photos/laptop-woman-education-study-young-3087585/
Whether you’re a student or a working adult who still has to deal with taking exams, you must first learn how to improve your study process. The good news is that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to studying since everyone has their own way of dealing with the stress of an impending exam.
Still, there are several tips and techniques that proved extremely useful over time and that helped people ace their exams without having to invest countless sleepless nights. Moving forward, we’ll list some of the most easy-to-apply tips and a few techniques that everyone swears by.
1. Eliminate Distractions
App notifications, chat messages, phone calls, or the ever-pressing need to check your emails every 10 minutes are distractions that break your flow and keep your focus on meaningless things.
So, the best thing you can do to improve your studies is to silence your phone (if you can close it, that’s even better). Also, make sure to leave it in a different room or hide it under a blanket or book, away from your line of sight.
Do the same with any other devices that may distract you. And, if you have to work online and find yourself wandering on other websites (YouTube’s usually the main culprit) than the ones you need for studying, install a site-blocking app or browser extension.
2. Find a Suitable Prep Course
Now, whether you’re studying for your Masters Degree or taking the next step in your career (like taking the CFA exam), you need access to reliable courses and resources. Luckily, nowadays, most resources are available online.
For instance, you can get high-quality prep course recommendations and study tips for the CFA exam here. Of course, there are times when it may take a bit of extra work to find the right resources. But, if you pay attention to reviews and ask for advice from teachers and former students, you will be fine.
3. Take Breaks
The human brain was not designed to live in a constant state of concentration. In fact, there’s solid research showing that the default state of our brain is distractibility. According to scientists, our attention is similar to a spotlight that continually dims and comes back on again. So, when you try to stay laser-focused on a task for a long period of time, you’re fighting the natural order of the brain, which is exhausting and unproductive.
This is why study methods like the Pomodoro Technique (study for 25 minutes, then take a 5-minute break) are extremely efficient.
4. Use Active Learning Techniques
Active learning techniques help you focus on understanding what you’re reading/watching instead of memorizing. When you understand what you’re studying, it’s a lot easier to retain the material and build upon it.
Use techniques such as self-quizzing (mock exams are a great help for this as well), summarizing, and trying to explain the material to a colleague. If you don’t have anyone around to listen to your explanation, imagine you’re talking to a 12-year-old. This way, you’ll be forced to go in-depth and find the simplicity of what looks like an over complicated mechanism.
5. Get Enough Sleep and Rest
No, cramming all your learning in the last few days (and nights) before the exam is definitely not a good approach to studying!
Besides ruining your sleep pattern, you’re also setting yourself up for failure. Sure, you may pass the exam, but all the information you tried to stuff in your brain will vanish overnight.
Sleep is essential for learning and memory consolidation. This is why it’s best to divide your learning into bite-sized sessions and make sure you have enough time for studying and sleeping seven to eight hours per night.
Also, it helps to find ways to unwind and take a longer break from studying. Make sure you socialize and/or tend to your hobby even when the exams are right around the corner. This way, you’ll learn to enjoy the process and find ways to personalize it to your liking.
Key Takeaway
Studying doesn’t have to be a desperate race to the finish line (aka the exam), where you lose sleep and eat unhealthy foods just to get by. You can easily turn it into a productive and pleasant experience with just a few tweaks here and there!
